


Rough Exterior

by DarkJediQueen



Series: 2018 Forever Angst Challenges [5]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV), NCIS
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-23
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2019-05-10 07:02:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14732171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkJediQueen/pseuds/DarkJediQueen
Summary: Jack didn't think that he needed a new friend, especially one as old as his new neighbor but then he ends up liking the man a lot.





	Rough Exterior

**Author's Note:**

> **Year** : April/May 2012 (Season 7)
> 
>  **Spoilers** : Up Through Season 7
> 
>  **Beta** : Grammarly

Jack Hotchner really liked the new neighborhood that his dad had moved them into. It was really nice, and while there were not a lot of kids, there were enough for him to have fun. Idris really liked the backyard. Their backyard was separated from the neighbors by a fence. However, the fence had a hole that was just big enough for Idri to slip under and get over there. Jack was afraid that if his Dad or Spencer knew that he had lost her, they would get upset and he wouldn't be able to play alone with her anymore.

So instead of going and getting one of the two adults in eh house, Jack slipped through the side gate. The man who lived next door wasn't home a lot; Jack assumed he was at work. The neighbor's gate was unlocked so Jack quietly opened it and shut it so that Idris couldn't escape that way. Jack crept into the yard, unsure if the neighbor was home or not. He found Idris on her belly in front of a window. Jack got to his hands and knees and shuffled up to her.

Idris was watching the neighbor man do something to wood. Jack watched enthralled as the man used a knife to slowly scratch a design into the wood. Jack didn't know how long he watched, but when the man put up the knife and picked up a bottle of the kind of stuff that his dad liked to drink when Uncle Dave was around, he pulled on Idris's collar and hoped she didn't bark. Idris followed him out of the neighbor's yard and into their backyard with no complaint or trying to run off. Jack latched the gate again and heard the sliding glass door that led from the kitchen open.

There ball laying on the ground, so Jack picked it up and threw it. Idris ran after it and almost ran right into Spencer as he came around the corner.

"There you are. Lunch is ready," Spencer said with a smile.

Idris came trotting up to Spencer and dropped the ball at his feet. Spencer crouched and pet her head for a minute before he picked up the ball and threw it. Idris chased after it, trying to reach it before it hit the ground.

"There is a hole in the fence," Jack said, and he pointed at where Idris had escaped through.

"Yes, we have someone coming to repair the fence next week. Gibbs is fine with Idris escaping into his yard until it can be fixed. If she gets annoying, he knows to let us know."

"Oh, okay, good."

Spencer held out his hand, and Jack took it, letting him pull Jack into the house. The kitchen smelled really good, and Jack wondered what his dad had made. He could smell bacon cooking, but there was something else as well. Jack was enjoying the weather a lot and the fact that with the backyard, he didn't have to go in except to eat until it was time for bed.

Jack walked right over to the sink that was at the end of the counter, Jack had wondered why the kitchen had two sinks, and neither his Dad or Spencer could answer so this one had become a hand wash sink.

Spencer walked over to his Dad and kissed his cheek before whispering something in his ear. Jack liked to watch them and how they acted together. They kissed a lot, and Jack had thought it weird until he had gone to a friend's house and saw the way that they acted. Jack really hoped that his Dad and Spencer never stopped kissing. They were cute together and Jack didn't mind it. Even if they had kissed the whole time during the movie the night before. Spencer made his dad happy, and that was all that Jack cared about. Jack settled in at the table and waited for the food to be set out. Breakfast had been Pop-Tarts all around as they were all worn out and sore from getting the last of the boxes from Spencers storage building, all of his books, which were now in the attic. Jack had been happy to help until he had woke up sore. The rest of the weekend though was for all of them to relax.

"So what are you going to do the rest of the afternoon?" His dad asked Jack as he set down a plate of bacon on the table. Spencer came over with bread and a plate of sliced tomatoes and lettuce leaves. The oven door opening drew Jack's gaze over to it to see his dad taking out a dish. That was where the rest of the smell was coming from, hashbrown casserole. Aunt Jessica made them and stuck them in the freezer for his dad to heat up for breakfast. Sometimes he cheated and would let them thaw and add cubed ham to them and eat that for a meal.

"Read. Spencer bought me five new books, and I want to just read."

"I'm sure Idris will make you play with her some," Spencer said with a smile as he sat down. The kitchen was just big enough to fit a small table in it, and that was where the three of them ate most of their meals. Spencer had found a really cool triangle shaped table, so they each had a side. It was really cool to Jack.

Spencer started to assemble his BLT sandwich. Jack watched reach for something that was green. It took few seconds for Jack to realize that it was avocado. Spencer carefully spread the avocado on the bread before putting the sandwich together with onions, like his dad. Jack didn't like onions on his but he liked onions on other things like burgers.

"We are cooking out tonight," his Dad said.

"Your father wants to use the grill before the team forces a cookout and Morgan and Will fight over the grill," Spencer said with a smile on his face.

Jack laughed at the words.

Lunch passed quickly with Jack eating three sandwiches because he was starving. They talked about what they wanted to eat because Spencer was going to go shopping for the food that they wanted while his Dad cleaned up from lunch. The leftover bacon was put into the crockpot, and it turned on high. Jack watched his Dad put in a big can of beans.

"What are you making?" Jack asked as he stepped up behind his dad.

"Bootlegger beans. Spencer is going to get the rest of the things needed for it, but I can at least get them started. They cook for a few hours. You can go play and read. I've got the kitchen."

Jack hugged his dad before he went outside. The books were already out there as well as a pitcher of tea on the table. Jack smiled because it had to be Spener that put it out there. Jack poured himself a glass of tea and grabbed the top book before he walked to the back part of the yard where the trees were. There were two big trees at either corner of the backyard, and right between them was a place that was shaded all of the day. Spencer had set up three lounge chairs there and two tables between them. It made a beautiful little place to get away. The family that had lived there before must have really liked grilling because there was a spot with a roof in the yard beside the back porch. The roof stopped rain but had a little chimñike spot that allowed the smoke out.

His dad was really excited about that, and Jack knew it. It was why he wanted to grill out for dinner. The grill had been one of the first things that had been set up for the backyard. Spencer had teased his dad and called him adorable, which had caused him to blush and Spencer to kiss him. Jack remembered well the soft smiles that were for Spencer alone and every time Jack saw one, he was happy.

The afternoon passed slowly. It wasn't until Jack was in the middle of his book that he realized that Idris had not bothered him in a while. Jack set his bok down and started to look around the yard. Idris was not in any of her laying spots. The sliding door had not been opened, so she was outside somewhere. Jack got up and walked to the door, just to check, and he found Spencer and his dad in the kitchen. Spencer was sitting cross-legged on the counter with a book in his lap. His dad was working on something at eth stove. Every time that his dad passed by Spencer, Spencer grabbed him for a kiss.

Jack Watched them for a few minutes smiling as he did. Spencer Snagged his dad at one point and wrapped his legs around his dad's waist to keep him right there while they kissed. Jack turned away from them and walked around the house and to the gate. Idris was not in their backyard, she had to be in the other.

The backyard was empty of Idris. She wasn't at the window from before, and a look in it had Jack realizing that the man, Gibbs, wasn't in the basement either.

"I wondered why Idris wasn't around for her normal setting on my lap while drank coffee," a man said.

Jack spun on his heel to look at the bb back door of the house. A man with hair that Spencer called salt and pepper was standing there. Idris was at his feet, and he had two cups in his hand.

"You must be Mister jack," the man said before Jack could say anything.

"I am."

"You Can call me Gibbs. Best take Idris back home. I've got a visitor coming."

"Ye, Sir." Jack slapped his hand on his leg and Idris came running to him. Jack hightailed it out of Gibbs's yard.

* * *

Jack figured out the best way to watch Gibbs. When Gibbs wasn't working, which wasn't a lot of the time, he was always in his basement. Jack could get on his belly and watch him work on whatever he was working on.

Three weekends of that kept Jack super busy between reading, playing with Idris, doing homework and just spending time with his father and Spencer. Jack found that he was busy with it all.

Late one Thursday night, just before school let out for the year, Jack found that Gibbs was home. Jack left Idri inside and he snuck over into Gibbs's yard and settled onto the ground to watch Gibbs work on what he was sure was a dresser. It at least looked like it might make a dresser when put together.

Jack watched him for an hour and just when he was getting up, Gibbs turned around and looked at him. Jack froze and thought about running. Gibbs was older than his dad, so Jack could probably run away before Gibbs could get up the steps and get to him. If he ran though, Gibbs could follow him. It wasn't like Gibbs didn't know where he lived.

Gibbs quirked a finger at him, motioning for him to come close and then pointed at the floor in front of him. Jack nodded. He pushed himself up to his feet and dusted off his hand and his clothes to get the grass and dirt off of them. Jack really didn't want to go into Gibbs's house, but he needed to see how upset the man was before he went to his Dad and told him what Jack was doing.

Jack touched the doorknob to the house and thought for a second that it should be locked as it turned. Jack was pretty sure that the man was in law enforcement n someway, given his work hours and that kind of reminded him a little of a less nice Uncle Dave. Jack tried to remember where the stairs were and moved through the house to find them. There was no noise at all except for Idris's nails on the floor. Jack swallowed as he walked down the stairs.

Idris rushed forward and down the stairs in front of Jack. Jack looked at Gibbs who was still seated in the exact same spot.

"What is so interesting about me that you feel like spying on me?"

"It's not you so much as the stuff you do with the wood. I've never seen anything like it."

"Well, I don't like people spying on me. So to make up for that, come here Saturday morning, and you can clean up my shop. Every time I catch you spying, you are going to clean my shop."

"Yes, Sir."

"Good. Now get!"

Jack took off running out of the basement with Idris on his heels. He went right into the house and into the bedroom. Jack settled on his bed with a book until he fell asleep.

That Saturday, Jack woke up early so that he could get his chores around the house done. He had to clean up his room and dust everything, but Spencer had got him a cool wand duster that picked everything up. THen it was onto the bathroom. Jack's rooms were Jack's to clean, and he had disliked it in the beginning when his dad made him do it to his bedroom in the apartment, so then he started to slack off. His dad didn't check him, just expected him to do it. The dust was the first problem that he had. Then it was not finding anything because his toys and things were shoved where his dad couldn't see them in the room. Jack had learned his lesson real quick. He also learned to pick up after himself during the week. When he was finished with something, he put it back, and the ht didn't have to clean as much on the weekend. If Jack was sick, his dad cleaned or him or now Spencer as well. They would also come in and get the high things now for Jack as he had bigger bookshelves and high pictures on the wall.

Jack trudged over to Gibbs's house after he was done with his chores. He didn't tell his dad or Spencer where he was going because he didn't want to admit that he got in trouble. Gibbs was waiting for him at the back door. He followed Gibbs down into the basement where he was handed a broom and a dustpan. Gibbs left the basement with no words. Jack started in the corner furthest from the stairs and worked his way around. There were wood bits and sawdust everywhere. Jack wanted the room spotless though so that Gibbs had nothing to complain about.

Under the stairs, was a small bookshelf that had a lot of books. There was one book that caught Jack's eye. It was about simple things it would get a kid interested and learning about woodworking. Jack ignored the book though and went on cleaning. When he had all of the sawdust up that he dared moved things to get to ordered used the small broom to clean off, Jack looked at eth bookshelf. He could slip under there and look at the book and hear Gibbs if he came back down. Jack grabbed the dustpan, and the small handheld broom and crawled under the steps.

Jack got lost in reading the book, looking at the images that went from a block of wood to weird shapes and finally in something that was beautiful. When he to bored of reading, jack just flipped through and looked at the images. Jack had never thought about the jobs that were no law enforcement or the ones that he saw everyday like the people at the various stores that were part of Jack's everyday life, or at the school, or bus drivers. Jack knew about them, but he didn't think about them. Trough Spencer Jack knew about art but it was art like painting, and while Jack liked drawing as a hobby, he wouldn't want to do it forever as a job.

"You about done?" Gibbs called out before he started down the steps. Jack put the book up and grabbed the pan and broom, ducking out from under the steps. He made the motion of dumping the pan in the trash just as Gibbs got down there.

"Yes, Gibbs."

"Good. Now let me see." Gibbs started to walk around the area looking at everything. He looked behind the things that Jack had pulled out and didn't even look at the things that Jack knew were dangerous or too big for him to get behind. "Good job. Now, how about a reward?"

"Reward?" Jack was shocked. He had cleaned up because he was caught spying on Gibbs, more than once. Jack was really confused.

"Yes, you get to leave."

Jack didn't wait to see if Gibbs changed his mind. He put the cleaning utensils down where he had seen Gibbs get them from and took off.

* * *

Jack tried to resist going back to Gibbs's. He succeeded for two weeks. Then he couldn't help it. He had seen Gibbs come home that morning and went into the older man's backyard. He walked slowly to the window and was upset to see Gibbs, not in the basement.

"You lasted longer than I thought," Gibbs said from behind Jack.

Jack sighed as he turned to face the man. Gibbs had a scowl on his face but in his hand was the book that Jack had looked at.

"Seems that more time spent with me is needed to make you not like to spy on me. So go tell your fathers that you are mine for the day." Gibbs wasn't smiling, but Jack walked up and took the book from him and hugged it to his chest. Jack darted away, running and hoping that whatever made Gibbs want to give him the book didn't go away. Jack skidded to a stop in the backyard as he saw that Spencer and his father were settled on a lounge chair. His dad was sitting up while Spencer had moved one of the other chairs to where his legs were on it while he was lying down in between his dad's legs.

Jack's dad had a pair of earbuds in and was listening to something while Spencer read a book, hand moving through Spencer's hair and messing it up. Spencer would complain that it looked like a rat's nest and Jack knew that his dad would quiet Spencer with a kiss and a mention that he looked like a cute rat's nest.

"Jack?" Spencer called out as he settled his book on his chest. It must have alerted his dad because the headphones came out and then Jack felt both of their gazes on him. "What do you have there?"

"Mister Gibbs gave me a book," Jack said as he clutched it to his chest like he was afraid that they were going to run across the lawn and steal it. He looked at his dad and saw him crooking a finger at him. Jak trudged across the lawn before turning the book around to show his dad but not getting it close enough to be taken.

"That's a nice book. Why don't you go change into some of your other play clothes before going back over and getting your first lesson."

"Lesson?"

"Trust Gibbs to give even the bare bones to a child," Spencer said with a smile that wasn't at all normal. Jack hadn't seen that smile on his face before.

"Go change and check your bed."

Jack took off running as his father waved his hand toward the second floor of the house. He nearly tripped going inside in his rush but caught himself. He set the book down on the kitchen table and ran through the house. He rushed through changing into different clothes before finally looking at his bed. There was a pocket knife there in a package. Jack wasn't sure what it was for, but he carried it down with him. Jack picked up the book and set the knife on it before pressing the knife to his chest as he carefully made is way through the kitchen and back into the backyard. He waved at Spencer and his dad before going into Gibbs's yard. Gibbs was on the back porch sitting with a knife in his hand that was close to Jack's. Jack didn't approach until Gibbs closed the knife. Jack set his things down on the table between them.

As soon as Gibbs closed the knife though, Jack was across the short distance and hugged Gibbs. He gripped him tight, and it took a few seconds for Gibbs to hug him back. When Jack finally let go of him, he looked at Gibbs's face to see him smiling. Jack felt a smile break on his face as well. Maybe Gibbs wasn't prickly at all.

# The End

**Author's Note:**

> This story is part of the [LLF Comment Project](https://longlivefeedback.tumblr.com/llfcommentproject), which was created to improve communication between readers and authors. This author invites and appreciates feedback, including:
> 
>   * Short comments
>   * Long comments
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